Sunday is set to be the hottest day of the year so far in Suffolk, with East Anglia, London and the south east set to reap the best of the sunshine.

And although dropping back slightly after Sunday, the mild temperatures are set to continue into the middle of next week, according to East Anglia-based Weatherquest.

Forecaster Chris Bell said: “We are going to see the hottest temperatures and the longest spell of dry weather since last autumn.

“I wouldn’t say it will be a heatwave but it will be very mild. On Saturday we could see temperatures of 14C (57.2F) or (59F) and on Sunday we are looking at 16C (60.8F) and maybe in some parts it could reach 17C (62.6F).”

However he warned despite periods of sunshine, with more blue skies predicted for Sunday, the balmy conditions will be tempered by a southerly wind of around 15mph which could provide “a bit of a chill, especially in the shade”.

He said it will be mainly cloudy on Saturday morning with sunshine breaking through later in the day, with Sunday likely to see more hours of sunshine with the cloud cover clearing much earlier in the day.

He said rain was not forecast for the next week, although there was a small chance of some showers the following weekend, with temperatures again reaching 13C (55.4F) and 14C (57.2F) in midweek.

Yesterday was the hottest day of the year so far in the county, with the Weatherquest recording 13.8C (56.8F) at Wattisham.

That could be eclipsed today with temperatures set for around 14C (57.2F).

The pleasant temperatures are in stark contrast to March last year, when the average temperature nationwide was 2.2C (36F).